M.O.H.S. No. 8.

Splendor Solis

Translated by Joscelyn Godwin. Edited with an Introduction and Commentary by Adam McLean.

[This book is now out of print]
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The Splendor solis is possibly the most well known text of late 16th century alchemy, primarily because of the beauty of the often reproduced illustrations in the illuminated manuscript version in the British Library. However, the only available version of the text in translation, the 'J.K.' translation published in the 192O's and reprinted since then, is a poor and rather paraphrased translation of the original, and has made a true appraisal of the textual material impossible.
For this edition, Joscelyn Godwin (who has written on Robert Fludd and Athanasius Kircher) translated the text anew from original German versions, and consulted five primary sources. This translation is coherent and easily readable and does justice at last to the work of its supposed author Salomon Trismosin.
The 22 plates reproduced from a late 16th century German version have been hand coloured as in the early editions, and Adam McLean provides a commentary on the symbolism of the process outlined in this series.
This publication of the Splendor solis will be seen as a most valuable addition to the available sourceworks on alchemy.
Limited edition of 250 copies. 105pp with 22 illustrations (some copies were hand-coloured). A5 Hardbound